Jędrzej Piaskowski

Emi and Ali are bound by an impossible love. Impossible, for in Poland two women in a romantic relationship are still a sensation, one that provokes opposition if not even outrage. Impossible, because Emi is a Polish widow, an older woman living alone after her children started families of their own, and Ali is a young immigrant from Ukraine who covers her loneliness and sense of insecurity with business success. Violetta Smolińska as Emi and Nina Batovska, one of the most fascinating stage actors of her generation, as Ali make a magnetic double act, its power drawn from the perfect fine-tuning of two individual performances. Through their relationship, Jędrzej Piaskowski and Hubert Sulima, an artistic partnership that has steadily brought minority perspectives to Polish stages, show how politics encroaches on the private realm and how fear of difference, and hatred of it, leave their mark on individual lives. Strach zżera duszę / Fear Eats the Soul is a play about love, but also about hatred and turning social anxieties into political capital.

The script takes its inspiration from the work of Rainer Werner Fassbinder, a German film director who portrayed people living on the margins and brought to the surface the tensions simmering deep in everyday life. Piaskowski and Sulima’s production is a lively, political statement showing that love can become a weapon against violence and discrimination. Tackling social problems, they do not give up humour and a fierce, camp aesthetic brought to the sets and costumes by Anna Maria Kaczmarska, Mikołaj Małej, and Rafał Domagała.

Content warnings: smoke, loud music, strong language, and nudity.

Directed by: Jędrzej Piaskowski
Text and Dramaturgy: Hubert Sulima
Concept: Jędrzej Piaskowski, Hubert Sulima Scenografia
Set Design: Anna Maria Karczmarska, Mikołaj Małek
Costume Design: Rafał Domagała Światło
Lighting Design: Klaudyna Schubert
Music: Jacek Sotomski
Assistant Set Designer: Kacper Łyszczarz
Prompter/Stage Manager: Anna Kandziora
Lighting and Video Operators: Bartłomiej Sowa, Krzysztof Woźniak
Sound Operator: Mirosław Witek
Production Manager: Małgorzata Długowska-Błach
Technical Production Manager: Maciej Rokita
Production Assistant: Dorota Damec-Hanulak
Cast: Nina Batovska, Dorota Chaniecka, Alina Chechelska, Andrzej Dopierała, Paweł Kruszelnicki, Violetta Smolińska, Kateryna Vasiukova, Maksym Tatarchuk
Produced by:  (Stanisław Wyspiański Silesian Theatre in Katowice
Premiere: 19 September 2025
Running Time: 140 minutes, no interval